Uconn

UConn women: Terps not as strong on court BY ROGER CLEAVELANDRepublican-American

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma calls to his team during the second half of a NCAA college basketball game against Colgate in Hartford, Conn., Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. Connecticut won 101-41. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

The Terrapins start a front court with a 6-foot-4 center, one 6-2 forward averaging a double-double and a 6-2 All-America forward in Alyssa Thomas that UConn coach Geno Auriemma called one of the toughest matchups the Huskies will face all season.

Between Tianna Hawkins, Alicia DeVaughn and Thomas alone, the Terps average 25.6 rebounds per game for a team that is shooting 50.8 percent from the field. In addition to averaging 18.6 offensive rebounds per game as a team, Maryland leads the nation in rebounding margin with an amazing plus-22.6 per game.

As if all that isn't enough, Hawkins (.695) and DeVaughn (.676) are second and fourth, respectively, in the nation in field goal percentage, and Maryland is third in the country in assists per game (20.6).

Yet as impressive as all that sounds, the Terps (4-1) have lost this season to St. Joseph's and have lost three players to ACL knee injuries, including their starting backcourt and a 6-foot-7 reserve center.

Forced to play with only seven scholarship players and a walk-on, the Terps now face a UConn team with great depth of talent.

"This could be the deepest team I have ever seen that Geno and his staff have had," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "Really when you look at it, no one is playing heavy minutes, 25-26 minutes per game, and that allows them to play extremely hard and keep the pressure up. Obviously, it is why they have been able to have such dominating, convincing wins."

With the Huskies' smallest margin of victory this season being a 31-point win over No. 16 Texas A&M, they are excited to have back-to-back games this week against Maryland today followed by No. 6 Penn State on Thursday. They are very focused and looking forward to a couple challenges for a change.

"The question always gets asked in some form all the time, 'Are you focused for this because it is a bigger game?'" senior Kelly Faris said. "We would like to say we prepare the same for every game whether it is a Division II school or the No. 1 team, but in reality when you know you are going to have a bigger challenge, a more competitive game, there is going to be more excitement and more energy.

"All the so-so games are kind of out of the way now. These two games coming up are huge games."

As for the huge Maryland lineup, the Huskies believe they match up well inside. Auriemma said Sunday now that everyone is healthy, 6-4 freshman Breanna Stewart will remain in the starting lineup while Caroline Doty will come off the bench.

Stewart leads the team in both scoring (16.8 points per game) and rebounding (6.5), and provides a perfect frontcourt complement to 6-5 junior center Stefanie Dolson. Dolson is averaging 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds and is also second on the team in assists with 25.

"I think we have done a good job of just kind of focusing on working together well inside," Dolson said. "I don't think you get good inside play when you are by yourself and it is just one person. So when we have a couple bigs like Stewie and (6-2 Morgan) Tuck and (6-3) Kiah (Stokes) that work well together, it is just easy to get a lot of points in the paint. And our guards do a great job of driving to the basket. It has just been about attacking well on offense."

The No. 2-ranked Huskies (6-0) have outscored opponents, 261-54, in the paint this season, and they are anxious to finally be challenged inside and see how they respond. They haven't had to aggressively box out and fight for rebounds this season.

"We haven't had much of a huge challenge down low yet, and it will be interesting to see how it goes," Faris said. "There may be times when me and Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) will have to go down there and cover up, because with the type of defense we play there are times we end up on a (power forward) or a (center). It will be good to see. It is a good test for us to have early on."

Frese is confident in her post game, but she is worried about the totality of the Huskies' makeup. UConn has the ability to bomb away from outside and run teams off the court in transition.

"You talk about the points they have scored in the paint, and then I look at their 3-point field goal percentage (.441) and their inside/outside game," Frese said. "Absolutely, you have to try to find a way to slow them down, especially with the way they run and the depth and the pressing that they have going on. Hopefully the way we have been able to defend with our size and great length inside we just have to make them have to take more difficult shots."

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